By Erik Nilsson (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-07-12 14:35

A creativity and design studio in Dashanzi Art District (originally 798 Factory). The studio is the heart of Beijing's increasingly visible art and culture community. More such facilities are springing up across he county, reflecting the shifting emphasis on creativity and innovation. [newsphoto]

Shanghai actress Ai Wan - identified as a "leader of the new rising creative class in Beijing" by Outlook Magazine - believes the creative sector has a bright future. "With so many of us in this generation developing creative initiatives, and setting and attaining goals, China is bound to become one of the most prosperous and creative countries," she says.

In April, Ai organized the Creative Class Party, which brought together about 700 industry leaders under the roof of her China Doll nightclub in Beijing to "meet, network and party". She hopes the event would create opportunities for exchange in a more creatively stimulating setting than a traditional convention hall.

"Cross-field communication among the elite of these industries could generate good ideas and provide inspiration." Ai says she came to Beijing after 15 years in Hollywood because of the opportunities offered by China's "creative renaissance".

Ai, who has acted in such blockbusters as Rush Hour and Death Becomes Her, was fed up with the stereotype roles available to Asian actresses in the US. So she left her home with a balcony view of the Hollywood sign to try her hand at more creative endeavors back home. Within three years, she reinvented herself into a writer, film producer, interior designer for Epic Design, host of China's International Fashion Week and culture columnist for Modern Weekly.

"In China, I found that I had more opportunities to do my favorite things and to do creative work based on traditional culture combined with more modernized elements and perspectives, instead of being an actress like I was in the US. I think all of us learning and living in China are actively influencing the country besides the top 500 multinational corporations on the mainland."

Most insiders agree the foreign media has been the greatest influence on China's creative industry during its "copycat" phase. "It's more than normal that creative industry is influenced by foreign companies - especially European and US enterprises," says Modern Media's premier scriptwriter Li Mengxia.

"But it is during this process of copying that true Chinese creativity is developing Hopefully we will see more Chinese artists doing new, ground-breaking creative work that people everywhere can learn from," Li says.

International influence has been two-tiered, according to Terry Flew, head of Postgraduate Studies in Queensland University of Technology's Creative Industries. The first is the general influence of the dominant Western - mostly US - models in terms of product style and targeting audiences. And then there are Asian countries, which have a powerful pan-Asian appeal, he says.

      1   2   3     

      1   2   3